


A Competition for Your Heart

by Nycis



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Angst, Author is unreliable (sorry), Bisexual, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Estranged Harley and Tony, Gay Harley, Keenker, M/M, May is a good aunt, Parkneer, Slow Burn, Some others probably - Freeform, WHAT EVEN IS THIS SHIP NAME, Well Rivals not Enemies, more to come - Freeform, probably and it won't go into much detail, spiderlad, tony is Trying, tw: child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-16 04:49:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19310950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nycis/pseuds/Nycis
Summary: Harley moves to New York to attend university where he meets an annoying cute and funny boy named Peter who he can't seem to get out of his head. The only problem is Tony Stark, after losing contact years ago over an explosive argument, the pair have been estranged since and Harley wants as little to do with him as possible. However, a competition in their Robotics class gives Harley the chance to show that he never needed Tony by beating his intern.





	A Competition for Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic in the SpiderLad fandom, I hope you enjoy! This chapter should just set everything up and establish some characters.

With a tired but satisfied sigh, Harley turned the engine of his car off. Finally getting out of the vehicle, he double checked he was in the right parking bay. Section T, No. 38. That was him. Now don’t get him wrong, there are possibly only two other things in the whole world he loves more than his Camaro but after a fifteen hour drive from Tennessee that somehow felt longer, he was glad to be out of it and stretch his legs. Slinging his duffel bag over one shoulder and his backpack over the other, Harley exited the parking lot with a smile.

 

Even his exhaustion couldn’t dampen his spirits, he was here, finally here. New York. Everything was so different, the continual background noise of a busy city, the glow of neon signs against the darkening skies and a smell that wasn’t manure or farm produce. He was finally out of Rose Hill, it was a long time coming but it had still been difficult to say goodbye to Abbie before he drove off. She was happy there but Harley had never been and he hoped she understood that, that he wasn’t abandoning her but rather taking a big step for himself.

 

Now to try and find his dorm, NYU seemed to sprawl over several city blocks, occupying some of the biggest buildings Harley had actually seen in person but with a bit of help from his phone he managed to find the right one. He narrowly dodged a vomiting figure as he entered the lobby, checking his watch it was only 10:18. That was probably a freshman rite of passage he’d have to endure in the coming weeks, all part of the university experience he guesses. After a far too long conversation with a bored receptionist (yes, this is my accent and yes it is Harley with a ‘y’, how else would you possibly spell it?) he finally got his room key.

 

His room was tiny, but that was hardly new to him and about what he had expected. Two beds were pushed against opposite light blue walls, a couple of small wardrobes (he didn’t have that much stuff anyway) pressed next to them and two desks next to each other with a large window over them. The view wasn’t great, two larger buildings cut off most of the vista but New York City still looked majestic to Harley, he could even just about see the water at the end of Manhattan.

 

The sound of the room’s door opening snapped him to attention as a raven haired boy, adjusting a black and red hoodie over his shoulders, entered the room. Briefly looking just as surprised, the boy quickly shook himself out of it.

 

“Uh, you must be my roommate,” A smile crept onto his face, “That or I’m already being robbed.”

 

Harley grinned, “Yeah. I mean, I’m your roommate.” His unmistakably southern accent adding a twinge to his voice.

 

“Nice. I’m Billy, good to meet you.” The other boy said, offering his hand out for a handshake.

 

“Harley Kenner.” He said accepting the handshake.

 

“I was about to rush out to meet my boyfriend and some friends,” Billy said with a kind grin, “You could probably come with if you want, just some pizza and video games.”

 

“Uh, I’m exhausted, might just head straight to bed. But thanks for the offer.”

 

“No worries, long drive?” Billy took a look at himself in the solitary mirror on the wall, adjusting the hem of his hoodie again.

 

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Harley said, dumping his bags and then himself on the bed, “Tennessee ain’t close.”

 

“Alright, I’ll catch you later then.” Billy fiddled with his collar one last time and swept out the room with a smile.

 

That went surprisingly well, Harley wasn’t a stranger to sharing a room but for once he seemed to have a roommate who was actually friendly and not liable to try and steal his things. Letting out a sigh of relief, he could already feel himself start to drift off to sleep. However his stomach had different ideas, letting off a low rumble, besides he should probably try and unpack at least a bit before he passed out for the day.

* * *

 

Ten minutes later, Harley found himself in the cafeteria eating leftover pizza. They had stopped serving food a couple of hours ago but one of the catering staff who was still around had taken pity on him. He absentmindedly scrolled through the local news on his phone as he ate, Daredevil had recently reappeared,  _ whoever the hell that is _ . A local billionaire called Rand was doing something not particularly interesting but charitable,  _ probably just for the good press,  _ and Spider-Man had stopped a bank robbery an hour ago, _ now Spider-Man I do know, _ Harley mused to himself, vaguely wondering if he’d spot the superhero at some point.

 

“No, don’t worry May, I’ve got a system in place and everything, it’ll be fine.” A guy in a baby blue sweater over a white button up shirt and jeans burst through the cafeteria’s double doors, holding a phone to his ear, “Yeah, everyone I’ve met so far has been so nice and friendly and Ned will be getting here tomorrow.”

 

Harley wasn’t usually one to stare, but there was something about the perfect messiness of the curls of his hair or maybe it was the slight flush and beaming smile that caught his attention. Actually, now that Harley thought about it, maybe it was the cute and energetic sound of his-

 

_ No. _ Harley cut himself off right there.  _ You are not getting a crush on some random probably straight boy on your first night here. Nope. _ Quickly turning his own attention back down to his phone screen as a blush started to creep onto his own face as the boy cantered over to the vending machines.

 

“Yes, we’re sharing a couple of classes together. He was telling me about a competition that apparently happens every year in Robotics.” The guy laughed at whatever response he received and damn if it wasn’t one of the prettiest laughs Harley had heard. He hadn’t even known that laughs could be pretty until now. “I’m sure that’d count as cheating. I’ll speak to you soon.”

 

Harley definitely wasn’t watching as the guy bought a copious amount of snacks from the vending machines and hung up on whoever he had been talking to. He also definitely didn’t get up at exactly the right time to bump into the cute boy by accident. But the next thing Harley knew, he was standing over the guy, candy bars and packets littering the floor.

 

“Oh my, so sorry about that darlin’, I need to mind where I’m going.” Harley said with a grin, offering a hand and laying his accent on thick. “The name’s Harley.”

 

“Uh, don’t worry about it.” The boy said gladly taking his hand with a surprisingly strong grip.  _ He must work out,  _ Harley’s brain supplied. “I’m Peter.”

 

Ever the gentleman, Harley bent down to help pick up the candies on the floor. “So did your parents not allow you sugar or are you just exercising your new adult freedoms?”

 

“No uh, I just liked to be stocked up.” Peter chuckled, a slight flush reaching his cheeks, taking the remaining sweets from Harley’s arms, “I get hungry easily, never know when I’ll want a snack. Did you just get here too?”

 

Harley nodded, his eyes not leaving the ever so slightly embarrassed Peter in front of him. “Fresh from Tennessee, you sound like a local?”

 

“Queens, but yeah I’m from around here.”

 

“That really means nothing to me, apart from New York, I have no idea where Queens is darlin’”, Harley said with a light laugh.

 

“Oh, right of course.” Peter stammered out, his embarrassment increasing with the flush in his cheeks. “So, uh, what are you studying?”

 

“Mechanical Engineering, only thing I’ve ever been good at.”

 

“Hey, I’m sure you’re good at other things, you probably wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

 

Harley’s grin grew at that,  _ he’s a charmer too. _ “Fair point, what about you?”

 

“Electrical Engineering, so pretty close. Hey, I don’t suppose you’re taking Robotics with Dr. Keller.” A shy, hopeful smile on Peter’s face.

 

“Well as it happens I am.”

 

“I guess I’ll see you in class then, my friend knows a senior and he was telling me about an annual competition they run every year. The only rule is you have to build everything yourself and winner is the best invention, you get some fancy internship or something.”

 

Harley could feel his smile turn into a cocky smirk, “Sounds like a cakewalk, I’ve been tinkering in my garage back home since I was 11.”

 

“Hmm, I don’t know. I used to dumpster dive for circuit boards to upgrade my computer.” A similar smirk creeping into Peter’s expression.

 

“Yeah? I built my own car basically from a burnt out chassis.”

 

“Wait, really? That’s so cool!” Peter blurted out excitedly, “Well maybe you’ll win then. Anyway I’ve already got my internship with Mr. Stark.”

 

“Stark?” Suddenly, Harley felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice over his head. “Sorry, I, uh, I need to be getting back to room.”

 

“Oh.” Harley heard Peter mutter as he turned away and started walking out the cafeteria. “I’ll see you in class then?”

 

“Yeah.”

* * *

 

Harley stood at the window of his room, knuckles clenched white, very glad the window faced south and not towards Stark Tower. He’s not sure he could cope with quite literally living in Tony Stark’s shadow. Of course the first cute boy he meets in New York has to be his intern. Just typical Harley Keener luck. He had, of course, conceptually considered that going to NYU would involve hearing about or maybe even seeing Iron Man once or twice but he had been so excited about the opportunity to get out of Rose Hill he hadn’t offered it much thought.

 

Maybe he should just try and outright ignore all of it, Stark, the Tower, this Peter kid. Harley had just escaped from hell, he just hoped he didn’t jump into a new one by moving to Tony Stark’s home town.

 

That was tomorrow Harley’s problem, right now he needed some goddamn sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try and upload a new chapter every Friday but I'm bad at writing consistently so we'll see how it goes. But I am powered by sweet kudos and comments!
> 
> My tumblr is @nycis, swing by if you want to chat!


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